How to Create Profitable Holiday Spa & Salon Gift Packages

Selling holiday gift packages (or rituals/journeys) for your salon or spa is great—or is it? Only if you can ensure that your packages are creating profits for your business.

The arrival of November launches us full-on into the holiday, and gift-giving, season. While gift card sales don’t kick into overdrive until closer to Thanksgiving, you’ve no doubt given some thought to creating appealing menu items, including seasonal packages, to whet the appetites of your clients.

One of the main issues with the term “package” is the connotation of a discount. However, gift packages don’t need to be discounted at all; they’re just intended as groupings of items that go together and create a pleasant visit. Having said that, at holiday time in particular, clients are looking for a deal, so special pricing may be expected.

My overall approach would be to have several packages on my service menu year-round, priced the same as the services would cost a la carte (perhaps with a free add-on service or product to add value). During this time of year, I’d create 3-4 additional holiday specials. Here are a few items to strategize around when creating holiday service packages.

Concepts

This is where you start. Think high level - put together 3 or 4 groupings of services without getting too specific yet. Your goal is to have a range of pricing and timing options. For example, if you have 3 rituals, they should not all be 2 hours and priced at $195. Have something with a few treatments that aren’t too pricey—perhaps a facial, manicure and pedicure—that would take about 2 hours and would be priced near $150. Then another package could last close to three hours and be priced just under $200. Be sure to offer one ritual that’s longer and pricier, say 3 ½ hours and $300 or so. You may also want to offer a package designed for men.

Service Selection

Now, you can go back and make more specific selections. Some basic guidelines here:

Do NOT put a 50-minute Swedish massage into any of these packages! This is probably one of your top-selling services, so you don’t need it in a package. By all means include a massage, but make it one of your higher-priced or more experiential ones: aromatherapy, hot stone, etc.

Do NOT put your most basic or least expensive treatments into a package. Always opt for something more evolved and priced slightly higher.

DO include something successful, like any sort of massage, with something that is less popular such as a body treatment or an exotic pedicure.

DON’T re-invent the wheel. You can take a treatment you’re already offering and give it a holiday twist by swapping out an ingredient for something chocolate, ginger, or cranberry You could also add in a specialty mask or winter-specific treatment. This allows you to make slight adjustments but name the service something new and different.

Pricing

Now consider your profit margins. Take a popular treatment and combine it with one or two services that are higher-margin but probably not booked as often. You can also throw in a value-added service that is easy to perform and has very little cost. By creating new variations on treatments already on your menu, you can also create new prices, as in the example below:

The Holiday Renewal Ritual takes no more time than the regular ritual, and even if it costs a few dollars more in products, you should be seeing a much better margin.

Note: If you’re still operating with a commission rate system, your ability to hit higher margins is less compelling, so you need to be even more careful with how you construct your rituals.

Marketing

When you collect your treatments into a ritual, give them a compelling name that evokes the way the client will feel when they receive it. Give clients an idea how long the ritual will be, but don’t feature the timing in the name itself. Consider the main reasons that clients come to your salon or spa—stress-reduction, me-time, relaxation—and use those words in your ritual title or service descriptions.

About the Author

Lisa Starr brings over 30 years of industry-specific experience as a consultant, educator and writer to Booker through GOtalk. Lisa also works for Wynne Business, a leading spa consulting and education company. Among other things, Lisa’s expertise lies in business operations and finances, sales and marketing, inventory management, human resource development, and business process improvement. She is a well-known speaker within the trade show circuit and is a frequent contributor to industry